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Vue sur l'étang aux hérons à l'Arboretum de Versailles-Chèvreloup © MNHN - J. Munier

Heron Pond

Encompassed on the north by a field of Japanese cherry trees, to the west by shrubbery and to the east by a collection of flowering apple trees, the Heron Pond is located at the centre of the horticultural area.

This pond was dug in 1975 in the heart of the wetlands fed by the Chèvreloup and Rocquencourt streams. A path allows visitors to walk around it and discover the banks lined with indigenous trees, various willows and alders, but also with exotic species like bald cypresses displaying beautiful colours in autumn

Vue de l'Étang aux Hérons en automne © MNHN - S. Gerbault
Vue de l'Étang aux Hérons en automne © MNHN - S. Gerbault

It is a privileged place for observing wild animals. Inhabited by many carp, it also attracts amphibians during the spring reproduction period and is home to many aquatic birds: grey herons, great cormorants, mallards, water hens, Canada geese, etc.

Visite à l'Arboretum de Versailles-Chèvreloup © MNHN - Jérôme Munier
Cyprès chauves au bord de l'Étang aux Hérons (au premier plan Taxodium distichum 'Nutans', au second plan Taxodium mucronatum) devant un Saule blanc (au troisième plan, Salix alba) © MNHN - S. Gerbault